WAGNER NATURAL AREA

A GUIDE TO SOME OF ITS NATURAL FEATURES

WEBSITE: www.wagnerfen.ca MARL POND TRAIL

Keep track of what you see along the trail, using the checklist on pages 16 and 17

The Marl Pond Trail (a 1.5 km looped trail) provides an overview of some of Wagner’s varied habitats, including its fens.

Find additonal informaton on the Wagner website: htp://www.wagnerfen.ca

2 Why is an Alberta Provincial Natural Area here? A feature of Wagner Natural Area is its fens. Fens are a special type of wet- land in which peat (undecomposed plant remains) has formed. The fens may be open, with islands of low vegetaton lying within shallow, whitsh pools known as marl ponds, or they may be forested with coniferous trees (spruce and tamarack). Both types of fens exist in this area. In Wagner groundwater, carried in underground layers of sand and gravel called aquifers, discharges at the surface as springs. The spring water fows overland down a gentle slope to the north. Groundwater is afected by surrounding land and water uses. Roads, urban or industrial development all alter the ground surface over which precipitaton infltrates the soil to replenish the aquifer. Wells or pumping can directly reduce the amount of water in the aquifer. Because water is the lifeblood of Wagner’s fens, to preserve the Natural Area we must not only protect its land base, but also its water supply.

History of Wagner Natural Area Once owned by local farmer William Wagner and popularly known as Wagner Bog, the original half secton of land was purchased by the Alberta government and other interested partes in 1971 to protect its outstanding natural features. It ofcially became Wagner Natural Area in 1975. Subsequent land purchases by the Alberta government and the Nature Conservancy of Canada have extended the protected area to 251 hectares (620 acres) covering a range of vegetaton communites. Since 1983 it has been managed by a volunteer steward group, the Wagner Natural Area Society, which has a recreatonal lease on the land. The Society’s objectves are to preserve the Natural Area’s ecological integrity, promote its appreciaton by the public, and maintain it as a resource for nature educaton and research.

Please remember: 1. Only pedestrian use is permited in the Natural Area. 2. Keep to the trail; trampling of the trail will destroy the surrounding vegetaton. 3. Do not damage, collect or remove any specimens from the Natural Area. 4. Do not leave liter; take it home with you. 5. Keep dogs on a leash and please pick up afer your dogs. 6. Lightng fres, cutng trees and camping are forbidden in the Natural Area.

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1 Centre Field POST

Enter the Wagner Natural Area through the gate and follow the trail past the bulletn board to the large open feld, passing by the picnic shelter on your right and the toilets on your lef. The Natural Area has several high points, or upland areas, where the trees were cleared several decades ago for farming. Now willows and poplars are gradually reclaiming this feld along the edges. Eventually it will return to forest, by the process of succession. In early spring or fall look for low mounds of fresh soil in the grass. These are made by northern pocket gophers, rodents which live in underground tunnels and chambers. They eat herbaceous plants, stufng them with their forepaws into their fur-lined cheek pouches or “pockets” – hence their name. They play an important part in grassland ecology by keeping the soil open and incorporatng humus at lower levels in the soil. The trail crosses the feld heading south. The vegetaton here is chiefy smooth brome grass, Kentucky bluegrass, and alfalfa, all non-natve species originally sown for hay. In spring and summer, watch for buterfies, moths and dragonfies as you cross this feld. The silvery-blue buterfy is partcularly common during June and early July.

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2 Poplar Grove POST

The deciduous trees in this area are a mixture of balsam and aspen poplars. Both of these tree species produce upright shoots from their roots known as suckers. They can colonize open ground quickly by means of these suckers. The smaller trees are sucker shoots and may stll be connected underground to the taller trees, their genetcally identcal parents.

3 Aspen, Red-osier Dogwood and Nettles POST

Look to your lef (north) to see a small forest of tall aspen trees. Such aspen groves occur on the uplands in the Natural Area. Willows, too, proliferate in more open, but moist, areas. The red-stemmed shrubs along the trail are red-osier dogwood, a favourite food of white-tailed deer and moose in this part of the world. Many twigs have had their tps biten of by these ungulates, leaving a slantng or jagged cut, and causing the shrubs to branch repeatedly. Common, or stnging, netle plants are abundant here. Avoid brushing your bare skin against the leaves. The toothed edges on the leaves bear stnging hairs that break on contact, releasing histamines that cause an irritaton that can last for several hours. Common netle occurs in rich, moist, disturbed, ofen shady areas. 5 Willow Carr (Shrubland) 4 with Lichens POST

You can tell the ground is weter here than in the feld, because the vegetaton has changed. Moisture-loving plants, including willows, gooseberries and currants, wild raspberry, bracted honeysuckle, wild mint, hemp-netle and tall sedges grow here. Do you see a very old, leaning willow covered with the pale green plaques of lichens? Although most of these willows are in a decline, some can stll produce new life from shoots growing out of old trunks. Plant communites change over tme. This area may become drier and more open, depending on the availability of water.

5 Alaskan Birch POST

Notce the dead Alaskan birch tree in front of you, with only part of its trunk remaining. It is known as a “snag”. Birches are pioneering trees, spreading by winged seeds and colonizing moist open ground, such as ofen occurs at the edge of peatlands. As a pioneer, like aspen, it is relatvely short-lived (about 100 years). However, in this mature locaton, young trees are growing up to replace the old, dying or dead ones.

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6 Hummocks and Hollows POST

The trail now passes through a forest community of coniferous trees (white spruce, tamarack) and Alaskan birch. Note the uneven ground surface: it is a mixture of hummocks and hollows. Such hummocky ground is likely the result of the alternate freezing and thawing of the waterlogged soil here. The hummocks around the tree roots provide good underground homes and seed caches for red squirrels. In May and June, the wet hollows are golden with marsh marigolds. These hollows make excellent nurseries for mosquitoes! In winter, they retain snow and may provide shelter for snowshoe hares.

7 Annual Growth Rings POST

The age of a tree can be determined by countng the number of rings seen in a cross-secton of the tree trunk taken at stump height – about 30 cm of the ground. The distance between each ring equals the increase in trunk girth made in one growing season. Wide rings indicate seasons with good growing conditons; narrow ones, poor growing seasons. Can you make a rough estmate of how old this tree in front of you was when it was felled?

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8 Windfallen White Spruce POST Uprooted trees, by creatng openings in forests, can initate a change in plant compositon. White spruce has a shallow root system and so is very susceptble to uprootng by wind, especially when it has grown tall. Shallow roots are an advantage in wet or waterlogged soils, where oxygen is present only in the upper layers. Standing dead trees (snags) and fallen trees (logs) contnue to provide food and shelter for insects and various forms of wildlife. Rufed grouse use logs for their drumming courtship behaviour. When fallen trees decay, usually with the aid of decomposing fungi, nutrients are recycled to the soil. With more light, shade-intolerant plants are then able to invade, increasing the diversity of the area. *See Posts 10 and 20 for diferences between white spruce and black spruce present in the Natural Area.

White spruce Black spruce

9 Wild Sarsaparilla POST

Wild sarsaparilla is a common understory herb of woodlands in the Edmonton area and indeed throughout the boreal forest region. When its large, divided leaves frst begin to unfold, they are wrinkled and purplish-red. As the plant matures, the leaves expand and become smooth and green. In the fall they turn golden yellow. Why might large, thin leaves be an advantage in a forest habitat?

8 Black Spruce, Tamarack, 10 Labrador Tea and

POST Feathermoss Forest

In this relatvely dense and uniform forest, white spruce is outnumbered by black spruce trees, which are characteristc of muskegs (treed bogs). Tamarack trees are also present. Few plants can grow in the low light and acidic conditons. Labrador tea and mosses are the exceptons. Mosses make up much of the ground cover in northern forests. Three common mosses, known as feathermosses (stair-step moss, big red stem and knight’s plume) form an extensive ground cover in these black spruce forests. Here they contribute to peat formaton, but they can also be abundant in drier coniferous woods. During drought, mosses dry and become dormant but, afer absorbing water directly from precipitaton, they swell and resume photosynthesis and growth. Mosses play an important role in the ecology of woodlands.

*These moss illustratons courtesy of S.J. Meades, Great Lakes Forestry Centre Herbarium

Stair-Step Big Red Stem Knight’s Plume

Hare “Runways”, Labrador Tea 11 and Twinflower POST

To your right, notce several well-defned narrow pathways or “runways” through the trees, most likely made by snowshoe hares. Such runways connect their shelter and feeding areas, and provide a fast escape route from predators if necessary. Hares usually have several runways in their territories; they clip the vegetaton of in summer, and tamp down the snow in winter, to keep them open. Prominent among the ground vegetaton here is shrubby Labrador tea and the small, trailing twinfower, so called because of its dual pink, bell-like fowers. 9

Post 2—Poplar Grove in Winter Post 3—Netles

Post 6—Marsh Marigolds Post 8—Wind-Fallen Spruce

Post 14—Fringed Gentan Post 16—The Boardwalk

Post 19—Red Squirrel Post 20—White Spruce Cones

Post 4—Willows Post 5—Alaskan Birch

Post 11—Labrador Tea Post 13—Marl Pond

Post 17—Tamarack Fall Foliage Post 18– Twinfower & Bunchberry

Post 22—Yellow Lady’s Slippers Post 23—Bog Fritllary

12 Water Sedge POST

Look for dense tufs or hummocks of water sedge, a grass-like plant common everywhere in wet places – on lake margins, in ditches and sloughs, and in the fens and watercourses of the Natural Area. The slender, grass-like leaves have a characteristc bluish-white appearance, Especially in the spring.

13 Fens and Marl Ponds POST

Here we encounter the most distnctve ecological feature of Wagner Natural Area, the open fens and marl ponds. They occupy a broad channel in which water drains slowly northward. Notce the whitsh or yellowish paste at the botom of this shallow pond. This is marl - a mixture of calcium carbonate and aquatc plant and animal remains. How does marl form? Calcium ions are present in the sands and gravels of the underground aquifers and they enter into soluton with bicarbonate ions present in the water of the aquifer. Here a complex equilibrium between carbonate ions, bicarbonate ions, carbonic acid and carbon dioxide is established. When the water reaches the surface in springs, carbon dioxide is lost to the atmosphere. This “degassing process” increases the concentraton of carbonate ions and as a result, insoluble calcium is formed and marl is deposited. Some bicarbonate ions and carbonic acid remain in soluton; this is responsible for the bufering efect which maintains near neutral conditons (pH around 7) in the water of the fen. It is this neutrality, as well as various mineral ions that occur in the ground- water and provide plant nutrients, that allows a greater diversity of plant life to fourish in fens than in the acidic conditons of bogs. This pond is framed by a forest of tamarack and black spruce, growing where the ground is higher. These types of communites are known as treed fens. 10

14 Fen Flora POST The fens are home to a great variety of plants that tolerate a high water table and neutral or alkaline conditons. In early spring, tufed bulrush, a major component of the fen ridges, is yellow with pollen. Also fowering in spring are arrow-leaved coltsfoot, bog rosemary and bog violet, followed by saline shootng-star. Seaside arrow-grass is abundant here and gives of a distnctve odour when trampled or crushed. Summer fowers include purple elephant’s- head, rush aster, Kalm’s lobelia, fringed gentan, northern grass-of-Parnassus, bog muhly grass and many others. Observe a partcular kind of curly brown moss growing at the edges of the marl ponds along the trail here. The shoots of this moss curl in a way reminiscent of a scorpion’s tail and give the plant its scientfc name of Scorpidium scorpioides. Other species of brown mosses can be found in the water and on the fen ridges. In the waterlogged grounds of fens, dead vegetaton accumulates very slow- ly. If the dead plant material accumulates faster than it decays, it forms peat. Peat core samples from the Natural Area indicate that it has been a peatland for about 4700 years!

15 Fen Fauna POST Wood frogs and western toads breed in the marl ponds. Afer their eggs hatch into tadpoles in the early spring, it is a race to quickly metamorphose (transform) into adults before the water dries up in the summer. Dragonfies frequent these ponds in summer, hawking for mosquitoes. The marl ponds provide homes for a variety of aquatc invertebrates such as snails, water bee- tles, water boatman, caddisfy larvae, dragonfy larvae, water striders, and back swimmers.

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16 Boardwalk and Birds POST

Ahead of you is a boardwalk that spans some of the wetest parts of the fens. The original boardwalk was installed in the mid 1980s when the trail was opened. The present boardwalk was installed in 2010; its low height allows visitors a beter view of the fens. In the marl ponds themselves a few shorebirds may sometmes be seen, such as the solitary sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs and common snipe. The boardwalk is a good place to listen and watch for birds that frequent the surrounding forest. In spring, you will probably hear the white-throated sparrow’s “I-love-Canada-Canada-Canada” call. Listen, too, for the persistently repeated song, ending on a rising infecton, of the red-eyed vir- eo. The ruby-crowned kinglet is a tny, actve bird that frequents tree branch- es. Its song is a characteristc “tea-tea-tea-tew-tew-tew look-at-me, look-at- me, look-at-me”, sung on a rising and acceleratng note. Black-capped chickadees are frequent in the Natural Area, and ofen come to investgate visitors on the trail. In fall and winter chickadees travel in loose focks to their favourite foraging sites.

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17 Butterworts and Tamaracks

POST Along the trail close to the fens look for rosetes of yellowish-green leaves hugging the wet ground. In late June and early July a violet-like fower on a single stalk arises from the centre of each rosete. These are common buterworts, one of the Natural Area’s several insectvorous (aka, carnivorous) plants. Insects get stuck on the greasy basal leaves and die; their body parts are digested by the plant and eventually absorbed into the leaf tssue. This is a good spot to admire the tamarack trees along the trail and across the marl ponds. Tamaracks are deciduous conifers whose needles turn golden in the fall, standing out in striking contrast to the dark green of the evergreen spruces. Tamaracks lose their leaves (needles) all at once at the onset of winter. Some people mistake the leafess winter tamaracks for dead trees, but fresh green leaves will appear in the spring. Years of reduced water fow, due to drought, has gradually flled in the marl pond here with vegetaton such as great bulrush, water sedge, seaside arrow-grass and coton-grass.

18 Forest Ground Cover POST Several of the low herbaceous species forming a ground cover here are characteristc of coniferous forests in our area, or of mixed woods (conifers plus deciduous trees). Bunchberry, twinfower, bishop’s-cap and woodland strawberry can thrive where enough light penetrates between the trees.

19 Red Squirrels POST The red squirrel is common in mixed woods or coniferous forests, where it ofen reveals its presence with its harsh, ratchet-like alarm call. It is actve all year except on extremely cold days. From midsummer onwards, it cuts of green cones from coniferous trees and drops them to the ground. It then caches them in middens, underground, or in piles beside logs. Look for heaps of discarded brown scales. 13 Black Spruce, White Spruce, 20 and Lichens POST Black spruce and white spruce trees mingle in the forest here. Black spruce tend to retain their cones on their top branches, so they are more difcult to fnd than the cones of white spruce, which are shed readily. Look for fallen boughs to see the stubby barrel-shaped cones of the black spruce. White spruce cones are more slender and cylindrical. Black spruce can tolerate weter soils than white spruce, which become more abundant towards the upland areas. Notce the abundance and diversity of lichens growing on the spruce trees here. Some are of the kind commonly referred to as old man’s beard, whose clusters of green threads hanging from the branches represent a growth form of lichens known as frutcose, meaning “shrubby”.

Lichens are formed by a relaton- ship between certain species of fungi and algae. The fungus and alga live together, both beneftng from the associaton.

21 Forest Progression into the Field POST Although river alders are usually found by running water, you will see on your lef, as you move into the more open area, a group of these small trees. Uncommon in the Natural Area, river alders also occur along Morgan Creek, at the eastern side of the Natural Area. The trail emerges into an open feld, now being flled in by trees and shrubs. This previously-cultvated feld has not been mown since the mid 1970s, and is slowly revertng to its natural forested state. Spruces, willows and birches produce copious numbers of light seeds which are efectvely dispersed to colonize these open areas. Afer a succession of changes in vegetaton, a stable or climax plant community may be established which persists for a long tme, unless disturbed by fre, other natural hazards, or by man.

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22 Yellow Lady’s-slippers POST In early to mid-June, yellow lady’s-slipper orchids gleam brightly amid the grass and shrubs. Of the various species of wild orchids found in the Natural Area, this one was chosen as the emblem of Wagner Natural Area because of its beauty and relatve abundance. The characteristc pouch or “slipper” is formed by the lowest petal of the fower and serves to entrap bumblebees. These insects enter it in a fruitless search for nectar, pollinatng the fower as they exit. Orchids produce numerous tny seeds that lack food reserves. Only by setng up a relatonship with fungi in the moist soil can they obtain nourishment, develop and thrive. For even the common orchids, es- tablishment and growth is precarious and slow. Under NO circumstances should orchids be removed from the Natural Area. Care should be taken when photographing them not to trample vegetaton or compact the soil. Note the bushy shrubs with paired oval leaves, close to the trail guide box. These are Canada bufaloberry, which produces tny yellow fowers early in May before the leaves open. Male and female fowers are on separate plants. The female plants will bear translucent red berries in late June to July.

23 Meadow Succession POST

The more north-western, drier, upland part of this old feld is being flled in by natve common wild rose and buckbrush shrubs. These fourish along with Canada goldenrod, a colonizer of abandoned felds. Weedy and alien in- vasive species such as Canada thistle, perennial sow-thistle, and smooth brome grass will persist here, unless they are deliberately removed. White spruce saplings were originally planted here in 2005, by the Junior Forest Wardens of Spruce Grove. The Wagner Society regularly monitors them for survival and growth. In tme, this feld will become a forest.

15 Marl Pond Trail Check List: Year______Date______Herbaceous Plants: Alfalfa Bishop’s-cap Bog Muhly Bog Rosemary Bog Violet Bracted Honeysuckle Bulrush Bunchberry/Dogwood Canada Thistle Coltsfoot Common Buterwort Common Netle Cotongrass Elephant’s-head Fringed Gentan Goldenrod Grass-of-Pernassus Hemp-netle Kalm’s Lobelia Marsh Marigold Perennial Sow-thistle Round-leaved Orchid Round-leaved Sundew Rush Aster Saline Shootng-star Seaside Arrow-grass Twinfower Water Sedge Woodland Strawberry Tufed Bulrush Wild Mint Wild Sarsaparilla Yellow lady’s-slipper Trees: Alaskan Birch Aspen Balsam Poplar Black Spruce Tamarack White Spruce Shrubs: Buckbrush Canada Bufaloberry Currant Gooseberry Labrador Tea Red-osier Dogwood River Alder Wild Raspberry Wild Rose Willows Mosses: Big Red Stem Brown mosses Knight’s-plume Peat Moss Stair-step moss Others: Algae Horsetails Lichens

Report any interestng fnds, with a photo and the date found to: [email protected]

16 Mammals: Northern Pocket Gopher Red Squirrel Snowshoe Hare Birds: Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee Common Snipe Lesser Yellowlegs Red-eyed Vireo Ruby-crowned Kinglet Rufed Grouse Solitary Sandpiper White-throated Sparrow Amphibians: Boreal Chorus Frog Western Toad Wood Frog Invertebrates: Ants Backswimmers Caddisfies Dragonfies Mosquitoes Snails Spiders Water beetles Water Boatmen Water Spiders Water Striders Buterfies and Moths: Fritllaries Gossamer-wings Sulphurs Cabbage Whites Police Car Moth Tiger Moths Swallowtails Silvery Blue Buterfy Caterpillars

Further Reading: Plants of the Western Forest, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Boreal and Aspen Parkland. 1995. Johnson, J.D.; Kershaw, L.J.; MacKinnon, A.; Pojar, J. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Alberta Coyotes Stll Sing in My Valley: Conserving Biodiversity in a Northern City. 2006. Ed. Ross W. Wein. “The Wagner Natural Area”, P. Coterill,180-190. Preserving our Natural Environment. Celebratng the Centennial of the Edmonton Nature Club. 2009. Ed. Brian Hitchon. “Wagner Natural Area and the Wagner Natural Area Society”, A. Hendry, 87-95.

Wagner Natural Area Society thanks all who gave support for the Marl Pond Trail: Alberta Conservaton Associaton Alberta Loteries Fund Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreaton Nature Alberta Parkland County Recreaton, Parks and Wildlife Foundaton 17 Design, photos and text by Wagner Natural Area Society Members

If you do not wish to keep your trail guide, please return it to one of the boxes provided. But DO COME AGAIN! Wagner Natural Area is a place for all seasons!

Donatons and enquiries regarding membership can be sent to: The Treasurer, Wagner Natural Area Society 26519 Hwy 16, Spruce Grove, AB T7X 3L4

Volunteer with the Wagner Natural Area Society by contactng: [email protected]

For on-site questons or to report a non-emergency incident, please contact the Parks Division, Government of Alberta, at 780-960-8170

Copyright: Wagner Natural Area Society, 2017